The Indonesian province of South Sulawesi has recently been in the spotlight for its high number of child marriages, but most recently the region has been in the news for an entirely different kind of marital scandal, one involving two siblings.
Yesterday, a 28-year-old woman from S. Sulawesi’s Bulukumba regency, named Hervina, reported her 32-year-old husband Ansar to the police for marrying his sister — whose identity has not been disclosed but is understood to be an adult — who he impregnated four months ago. Ansar and his sister reportedly fled across the Makassar Strait to elope in Kalimantan recently.
“All this time, I had no suspicion. Not once. After this I want a divorce,” Hervina told Liputan 6.
Ruslan, Aslan’s brother, confirmed that his two siblings had married.
“We are seven siblings. [Ansar] married the youngest one. If possible they should be punished by law,” he said.
Indonesia’s law on marriage forbids unions between biological siblings.
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However, the charges Hervina brought against Aslan relate to adultery, which is illegal in Indonesia if it involves a married person cheating on their spouse, although only spouses are legally allowed to report it to the police. Those convicted of adultery under these circumstances may be punished by up to nine months in prison.
But the Bulukumba Police have yet to locate Ansar and his sister/wife, who are believed to still be in Kalimantan. It’s likely that they won’t be returning to South Sulawesi anytime soon as their parents and other siblings have said the two have brought shame to their family and should never return.
